A tough, physical and punishing defense was a large reason why the Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team toppled West Genesee in last spring’s Section III Class A semifinals.

Nearly 11 months later, when those same two sides gathered again Friday afternoon at Mike Messere Field in Camillus, defense was again the main factor that helped the Northstars again beat the Wildcats, this time in an 8-6 decision.

Both sides were in the first state Class A rankings of the season – C-NS at no. 5, WG at no. 10. But while the Northstars had navigated through a series of close wins on the way to an 8-0 start, the Wildcats had taken a pair of recent defeats, to Fayetteville-Manlius (its first in 11 years) and Garden City.

In a contest expected to have little separation, what happened inside the draw circle was the first major factor. Handling most of them, C-NS junior Jessica Meneilly and her teammates claimed 11 of the first 14 draws, leading to longer possession time throughout the afternoon.

Over the game’s first 12-plus minutes, WG was kept off the board, and rarely had the ball. Meneilly and Makena Scarlata both put in early goals, and Julia Alberici followed with back-to-back tallies that made it 4-0 before Mackenzie Baker put the Wildcats on the board.

Late in the half, WG had more possession time, and caught a big break when Olivia Massena was sent to the bench with two yellow cards. Still, the Northstars answered every Wildcats surge and led, 7-3, at the break.

The lack of Massena meant that C-NS had to do far more work on the defensive end during the second half. This put more of a burden on back-liners Alison Bartlett, Delaney Stahrr, Jessica Foley and Brianna Jackson, but they handled their assignments well, blanking WG for 11-plus minutes.

Largely, though, the second half belonged to Northstars goalie Lauren Gilbert.

Throughout the early part of the regular season, Gilbert had split net duties with Kaitlyn Lippert. This time, though, Gilbert stayed out for the second half, and C-NS was quite glad for it.

With constant possession, WG taxed the Northstars’ defense, and got plenty of open looks. Most times, though, Gilbert stuffed them, eventually making 10 saves in the second half and 16 saves overall.

Even when WG closed the gap to two on goals by Baker and Cecilia Procopio in a 26-second span late in the half, Gilbert remained poised, getting three more saves in the last three minutes and also intercepting a pass to the front by Baker to stymie the Wildcats’ hopes.

Before West Genesee, though, there was the matter of stopping Liverpool last Wednesday at Bragman Stadium, and that was a matter C-NS did not take lightly, gaining a 13-7 victory over the Warriors.

The first half decided matters as the Northstars diversified its attack and flustered the Warriors with its depth on the way to building a 9-3 lead. Scarlata and Brenna Duffy each picked up three-goal hat tricks, with Meneilly and Alberici both scoring twice. Tryniski, Olivia Africa and Molly Molchanoff also earned goals, with Jessica Foley and Allison Bartlett adding assists.

Liverpool played better in the second half, but the deficit was too great to overcome. Still, Maia Henry scored three times, with Brittany Halpin getting two goals. Megan Fitzpatrick picked up a pair of assists as Bella Brancato got a goal and two assists. Abby Hope added a goal.

Two days prior to facing Liverpool, C-NS endured yet another close call and emerged with yet another one-goal victory, requiring overtime to beat Webster Thomas (Section V) 11-10 at Bragman Stadium.

Like in many of these other tight contests, C-NS gained an early advantage with strong first-half defense. But its 5-3 halftime lead did not hold as the Titans caught up and forced things into the Northstars’ first OT of the season.

Somehow, C-NS regrouped to win it as Tryniski finished with five goals and one assist. Meneilly scored three times, with Duffy getting three assists. Africa had one goal and one assist as  Alberici and Foley had one goal apiece.

On Friday, just as C-NS was again stopping West Genesee, Liverpool was hosting Fayetteville-Manlius, a team that was next for the Northstars. Proving quite formidable, the state Class B no. 3-ranked Hornets handled the Warriors 19-4.

Liverpool caught F-M at a bad time, the Hornets angry from a loss to Baldwinsville earlier in the week. And it got away quickly despite Hope’s pair of goals as Fitzpatrick got one goal and one assist. Veronica Brancato had two assists and Henry got an assist, too. Amanda Cramer led the Hornets with six goals.